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Dungeon Finder is the "Looking for Dungeon" (LFD) system Blizzard introduced in patch 3.3.0. It was made the default mode of the Dungeon Finder window and integrated with the Raid Finder and Scenario Finder in Patch 5.0.4. It is only used for 5-man dungeons, not raids or groups in general for high-level quests. The Dungeon Finder selects players to form a party from all servers in the battlegroup of the current realm, so there need not be a full group of players on one specific realm.

The first screen players see shows the role selection toggles and the type of dungeon desired. By default, the selection is for a random dungeon. This can be changed via the Type dropdown to such options as Random Lich King Heroic, Random Burning Crusade Dungeon, or Random Classic Dungeon. Running a random dungeon confers additional rewards in the form of emblems and gold.

Note that it is not possible to queue for dungeons outside of the player's level bracket or expansion level; e.g. level 80 players cannot queue for classic or Burning Crusade dungeons.

Selecting a specific dungeon or dungeons can be accomplished by choosing the very first option in the Type dropdown. The UI changes to show a list of dungeons, all of which are selected. To narrow the list, click the checkbox next to the category line to select/deselect all dungeons in that category. Players can also collapse categories of dungeons by clicking the +/- box just to the left of the category checkbox.

In Patch 4.1, a new sub-feature was added to offer roles that are lacking representation in the queue additional rewards for completing a random level 85 Heroic dungeon. Initially these rewards will probably be special mounts (like Reins of the Raven Lord, Swift White Hawkstrider, or Deathcharger's Reins) or non-combat pets (companions like Razzashi Hatchling, Cockatiel, or Tiny Sporebat).

In addition to Dungeon Finder, everyone in capital cities automatically joins the LookingForGroup channel. It can be used to manually search for groups instead of, or in addition to, both Dungeon Finder and Looking For Raid.

The Daily money and XP rewards depends on the character level. The following table contains the rewards for each levels first random dungeon of the day, any other runs during the same day will yield approximately half the money and experience:

Level

Money

XP

Level

Money

XP

Level

Money

XP

Level

Money

XP

15

35

310

29

70

470

43

1 65

1250

57

1 80

1450

16

35

310

30

70

470

44

1 65

1250

58

1 80

1450

17

35

310

31

70

470

45

1 65

1250

59

6 20

1600

18

35

310

32

70

470

46

1 65

1250

60

6 20

1600

19

35

310

33

70

470

47

1 65

1250

61

6 20

1600

20

35

310

34

1 30

825

48

1 65

1250

62

6 20

1600

21

35

310

35

1 30

825

49

1 65

1250

63

6 20

1600

22

35

310

36

1 30

825

50

1 65

1250

64

6 20

1600

23

35

310

37

1 30

825

51

1 65

1250

65

3 10

1100

24

35

310

38

1 30

825

52

1 65

1250

66

3 10

1100

25

39

1 30

825

53

1 80

1450

67

8 80

1900

26

70

470

40

1 30

825

54

1 80

1450

68

8 80

1900

27

70

470

41

1 30

825

55

1 80

1450

28

70

470

42

1 30

825

56

1 80

1450

Heroic

Heroic

Level

Money

XP

Money

XP

Money

XP

69

—

—

14 80

33100

—

—

70

8 80

1900

14 80

33100

—

—

71

8 80

1900

14 80

33100

—

—

72

8 80

1900

14 80

33100

—

—

73

14 80

33100

—

—

74

—

—

14 80

33100

—

—

75

—

—

14 80

33100

—

—

76

—

—

—

—

77

—

—

—

—

78

—

—

—

—

79

—

—

—

—

80

—

—

19 86

0

26 46

0

Other remarks:

For Random Classic Dungeons you must be at least level 15.

For Random Burning Crusade Dungeons you must be at least level 59.

For Random Normal Wrath of the Lich King Dungeons you must be at least level 69.

For Random Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Dungeons you must be at least level 80.

To queue up for a Random Dungeon, you must be within the correct level range to run at least two dungeons in a given bracket. For example, you can use the Dungeon Finder to go to Utgarde Keep at level 68, but since this is the only Normal dungeon available at that level, you cannot queue for a Random dungeon until you are 69, when The Nexus becomes available.

Classic dungeons vary widely in scope, from short romps to 4+ hour marathons. Many of the classic dungeons have been broken up into separate events to allow achievement of the dungeon finder rewards in a comparable amount of time.

All Burning Crusade Heroic-level instances have a level range of 70 to 75, and require the appropriate key to enter (except Magister's Terrace, which is unlocked at the end of a quest chain involving clearing the dungeon on normal difficulty). The keys are purchased from corresponding faction Quartermasters. All have the same completion criteria as the Normal-level instance.

Note that an optional third boss may be invoked in heroic Sethekk Halls, but not in the Normal version. This boss is not required to complete the instance.

In patch 4.1, two new dungeons were added, as refurbished, level 85 Heroic versions of old raid instances. These dungeons only have a Heroic mode and both require an item level of 346 to queue in Dungeon Finder.

The Mechanar also has optional content obtained by combining particular drops. If everyone loots blindly, it is likely that each part will go to a different player, preventing them from being combined. The only workaround is to have everyone except a designated person avoid looting these items.

A quirk or oversight of the tool is that when checking for minimum item level, the tool apparently counts items in bags AND bank even if they are not worn or wearable. One Blizzard representative who responded to this issue did not deny this functionality and gave the impression that it was strangely intentional,[5] while another appeared to recognize it as a bug.[6]

At the launch of the game, there was only the LookingForGroup chat channel. This channel was available in all zones, but it was not a linked global channel. This was problematic since zones of the same level range are spread out throughout Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. At this time, many players relied on their guild, friend's list, or even whisper to find groups. Otherwise, they would travel to Orgrimmar or Ironforge respectively, find a group, then travel back out to the site of the dungeon, making dungeons far away from these cities very unpopular. As a result, warlocks were also very popular at this time, as they played an important role in forming groups. Blizzard eventually added a queuing system related to the Meeting Stones in front of the instances, but it was rarely used, and was generally a failed feature. In Patch 1.9, the LookingForGroup channel became global, although it was restricted to the major cities.

With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion and Patch 2.0.1 came the release of the new Looking For Group interface pane as well as the conversion of Meeting Stones from a queuing system to a summoning mechanism. At this time, the LookingForGroup channel was completely removed, since the interface was intended to replace it. Instead, players began to use the Trade channel for LFG, guild recruitment, and general global chat. Blizzard responded by hotfixing a rate limit of so many messages per minute. However, this was eventually lifted, and Trade channel continues to be a mixture of trade and other uses even today. After much community feedback, in Patch 2.1.0, the LookingForGroup channel was restored, although it was only available while actively using the Interface Tool.

First announced at BlizzCon 2009, Patch 3.3.0 saw a new cross-server Looking For Group (and Looking For Raid) system. This is the second cross-server feature Blizzard has added to the game, after Battlegrounds. Cross-server features are generally used to help users on low-population realms find groups, which was previously nearly impossible any time other than peak hours.

Hotfix (2011-08-10): If a player is kicked by vote from a dungeon finder group, the leader of the group is no longer able to invite that player back.

Patch 4.1.0 (26-Apr-2011): Added Call to Arms feature. Call to Arms will automatically detect which class role is currently the least represented in the queue, and offer them additional rewards for entering the Dungeon Finder queue and completing a random level-85 Heroic dungeon. (Source)

If a party member remains outside of a dungeon for more than 3 minutes, they become eligible for removal, regardless of other Vote Kick restrictions.

When players queue as a group with a tank or a healer, and the tank or healer drops group (or is kicked) within the first 5 minutes, all of the other players who queued with them are removed from the group as well.

If there is a group of 3 or more friends and someone in that group initiates a Vote Kick of a random party member, it now requires 4 votes to kick the player, instead of the standard 3 votes.

The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often is not issued to a player who kicks someone with whom they queued for a dungeon (i.e. the party member being selected for removal is not a player randomly selected via the Dungeon Finder).

The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often will be issued much more quickly to players who join as a party of 4 and kick the randomly selected 5th player.

The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often will now not allow the player to initiate a Vote Kick for 2 hours, up from 45 minutes.

Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): Undocumented change.Players can now see how long they are in queue while waiting for a group.

Patch 3.3.0 (08-Dec-2009): Looking for Group has been renamed to Dungeon Finder

Supports 5-player instances

Designed for PUGs

Reward System (Source)Raid queuing was moved to a separate Raid Browser interface. Group quest queuing was removed entirely.

Patch 3.1.0 (14-Apr-2009): Class roles (i.e. damage, tanking, healing) have been added to the Looking For Group feature. Class roles will be displayed when sorting through the Looking For More section.

Patch 2.1.0 (22-May-2007): Players will now be able to access the Looking For Group Channel by joining the Looking For Group/Looking for More tool.LookingForGroup channel is accessible only when using the interface pane.

/Patch 2.0.1 (05-Dec-2006): A new Looking For Group tool designed to assist players in finding groups for instanced dungeons and quests will now be available. This interface gives players the option to be added to a pool of other players also looking for a group, as a means to expedite the process. In addition, players will also be able to search for additional members in situations where they have a group and are simply looking to find more players. For a complete overview of this new interface, please take a moment and read the information contained on our comprehensive Looking for Group preview.[7]LookingForGroup channel was removed.

Patch 1.11.2 (11-Jul-2006): The Looking For Group channel is now defaulted off. Players will need to join the channel to access it. (/join LFG)

Patch 1.9.0 (03-Jan-2006): In addition, the "Looking for Group" and "Trade" channels have been unified among the corresponding cities, meaning, for example, that you can trade your goods or look for groups in Ironforge while in Stormwind.Previously, these were not global (cross city) channels.